How to Personalize a Baby Quilt

I'm past the stage where I am making baby quilts for my children. This picture shows the first baby quilt I ever made-for my baby Sam (now 13 years old). I love that this quilt is worn and stained. I love that it is well-used and cherished, and that it carries my special message to my baby boy written on the label.

I remember making this quilt while I was expecting and not knowing whether I was having a girl or a boy. I appliquéd the border while on a business trip to Hawaii and finished hand-quilting it right before Sam was born. Somehow I knew the blue gingham border would be appropriate.

Now the baby quilts that I make are brighter and bolder, incorporating wild batiks with black-and-white fabrics or modern brights with bold solids.

Malka Dubrawsky shows how to make a baby quilt that is bold, bright, and modern in her book Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design, and Inspiration. Her designs are perfectly suited to the contemporary nursery.

One of my favorite baby quilt patterns from that book is not for a coverlet, per se, but a pattern for making quilt blocks with letters of the alphabet. You can sew them together to make a banner with the baby's name, a fabric book, or use the alphabet motifs to personalize a crib quilt, spelling out baby's name.

Here is Malka's tutorial for making the letters.

Baby quilt block letters from Fresh Quiltingby Malka Dubrawsky.

Baby Quilt Block Lettersby Malka Dubrawsky

All letters are cut freehand using pinking sheers or a rotary cutter fitted with a pinking blade. My letters measure about 4" x 4". Some letters were cut directly from fabric; others were constructed from cut strips and fused to the background.

You will need backing fabric, fabric scraps for the letters, fusible web, an air-erasable pen, pinking sheers or a rotary cutter fitted with a pinking blade, and basic sewing supplies.

1. Following the manufacturer's directions, apply fusible web to the back of 1 print scrap. Using an air-erasable fabric marker, draw the shape of a letter on the fabric right side. It may be helpful to sketch a 4" x 4" square on the fabric before starting to better visualize the finished letter size. Letters placed on rectangular patches can be a bit wider.

2. Using pinking sheers or a rotary cutter with a pinking blade, cut out the letter shape. Peel away the paper backing.

3. Fuse the letter to a square or rectangle of fabric.

Composing a baby quilt letter with fabric strips.

4. For letters composed of straight lines, freehand cut strips 1" to 1¾" wide with the pinking sheers or blade, if desired. Arrange the strips on a background patch, trimming their length as necessary, and fuse in place.

5. Repeat the 2 methods until all letters are cut and fused in place.

6. Topstitch the letters about 1/8" inside the pinked edges.

7. After adding backing and batting to your baby quilt or block, free-motion stitch around the outline of each letter following the curvy pinked edges.

Whether you sew a handmade baby quilt in bold colors or pastels, for your own child or someone else's, these baby quilts have the same purpose in mind: to make sure that the baby swaddled with them will feel the love and hope that is put into each stitch.

Brighten up any room with fun, contemporary projects exploding with sensational color and learn to create beautiful and lively pieces for you and your home.

Malka Dubrawsky is a fiber artist whose work has been shown in juried exhibitions including Quilt National and Visions. In addition to a successful Etsy shop and popular A Stitch in Dye blog, Malka contributes to Stitch, Sew Hip, and Quilting Arts magazines. She is the author of Color Your Cloth, and her work has also appeared in Fiberarts: Design Book, Sweater Surgery, Quilts, Baby!, Pretty Little Pillows, and Pretty Little Mini Quilts. Malka is based in Austin, Texas.

Ive been reading Malkas blog, A stitch in dye, for a very long time now, and I always enjoy all the beautiful eye candy over there. Malka has a way of combining fabrics, both commercially printed as well as her signature hand-dyed fabrics, to create gorgeous works of art. - Filminthefridge.com

Dubrawskys aesthetic is colorful and vintage-inspired, with fun and functional designs. The wide variety of small projects and accessories makes this a good choice for beginning quilters who may not feel ready to take on a full-size quilt and theyre excellent scrap-bag busters for quilters with a serious stash. - Library Journal

Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design & Inspiration is an amazingly beautiful and content rich new book by Malka Dubrawsky. Its no secret Im a big fan of Malkas work. The first time I saw one of her quilts I totally flipped out. Unique, colorful, and yes, Fresh! - Kathy, Pinkchalkstudio.com

Her work challenges me to embrace color more passionately, to get more gutsy with free motion quilting and to allow myself to work with more freedom at times. I simply can't put down thisbook. Rachel Hauser, Stitched in Color

This book proves theres much more to quilting than warm, cozy bedspreads. Dubrawsky ( Color Your Cloth: A Quilters Guide to Dyeing and Patterning Fabric ) begins with a brief, informative description of quilting techniques, from cutting to piecing to hand and machine quilting, then provides a gallery of projects with step-by-step directions. Dubrawskys aesthetic is colorful and vintage-inspired, with fun and functional designs. The wide variety of small projects and accessories makes this a good choice for beginning quilters who may not feel ready to take on a full-size quil and theyre excellent scrap-bag busters for quilters with a serious stash. Library Journal

The brightly coloured cover draws you into this book which aims to rejuvenate home sewing projects through quilting in colourful and bold designs. This is more of a book aimed towards home decorating, rather than offering any in-depth patchwork or quilting advice. There are varied projects ranging from quilts to scarves and needle cases, and with a good variety in between. Each project has diagrams to assist with the design and layout and colour photographs of the finished objects. But the projects themselves are bright and funky and there is a good variety of patchwork techniques to make them all a little out of the ordinary. It's not really a book for the art quilter looking for inspiration in colour design, but if you feel your home is lacking in exhibiting your creative output, then some of the projects would most likely be of interest. However, for the seasoned quilter, this might be a little basic. - Workshop on the Web

A great resource if you want to try quilting for the first time, the projects are inspiring for quilters at any level of experience. And it's beautifully designed I've picked it up dozens of times just to flip through. Malka's style involves using a lot of colour and improvisational piecing and in FreshQuilting she offers techniques and tips for getting comfortable with both. All of the projects in the book are beautiful. - thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk

Quilters looking for a variety of bright, contemporary projects will enjoy this title that includes 20 items ranging from dainty coin purses, coasters and scarves through to bed-sized quilts. Bags, cushions, baby quilts and fabric books are also included in a vibrant assortment of fabrics that are cheerful and uplifting. The author's mantra is to inspire the reader to craft the 'little things' because they are often the most cherished and this book reflects her approach to making items for friends, family and home. Each project is accompanied by full instructions but the book also includes essential techniques for piecing, basting, quilting, binding and finishing. This is an ideal book for those looking to reduce their stash as many of the projects use a wide variety of prints and colours and the cushion and quilt projects can easily be scaled up or down as required. - Sewing World

"Malka Dubrawsky and Interweave books what an amazing combination one of my favourite improv quilters and one of my favourite book publishers all rolled up together: Malkas stunning colourful designs, combined with Interweaves attention to detail love it and the book delivers! Malkas quilts and patchwork designs are all about colour and pattern. She dyes and over-dyes her own fabric and combines these in eclectic and clashing and fun ways that are part gypsy and part country but the final result is completely modern! Her stitching may be a bit wonky at times and her corners may not meet up perfectly but for me that not only adds to the charm of these improv quilts but also the accessibility of her style she is all about fearless quilting and sewing just getting in there and doing it. Her fearless style embraces flaws but also discovers new methods, exciting colour combinations and fantastic designs." - Whipup.net

"A myriad of projects at every skill level for the Modern quilter." - Machine Quilting Unlimited

I ask the mother to be to purchase a few fat quarters at the local quilt shop, and then I select the other fabrics to complete the quilt. this way I know she will like some of the fabrics, and gives me an idea of her tastes. THis works well when my family out of state is expecting and we cannot shop together.